When I was a child (not that long ago to be honest), friendship bracelets were incredibly popular. Of course, as with all generations we assumed that this was an idea that we as a collective had come up with.
Apparently not
Friendship bracelets originated in Central America a long time ago. I like the thought of tween girls in somewhen B.C swapping their knotted bracelets and maybe drawing a selfie on their walls for posterity.
Anyway
We were offered the chance to try out the Cool Maker Kumi Kreator last week and it’s basically Bess’ new favourite thing.
Kumi (for anyone who is wondering) is short for Kumihimo which is a Japanese form of braid-making. Cords and ribbons are made by interlacing strands. Kumihimo is Japanese for “gathered threads”. You’re welcome!
What’s in the box
- 1 Cool Maker KumiKreator
- 88 Spools
- 10 Clasps
- 20 End Caps
- 26 Clasp Stickers
- 1 Design Booklet
- 1 Measuring Guide
- 1 Storage Case
- 1 Playbook
How do you play?
The first thing you MUST do is to watch the instruction video. Honestly, I am a big fan of winging this stuff but for this toy you are going to want clear instruction and this link is the clearest. Go to www.coolmaker.com
What did we think?
The KumiKreator takes a little while to set up and just a minute to create a bracelet. Bess (12) did 99% of this herself. She found it interesting to use, she really likes seeing how things are made so to have the mechanics of the toy on display was something she was pleased about.
Bess found the spools tricky to put onto the Kumikreator and we can see why this toy is for 8+ although Moose absolutely loved watching Bess create her Kumi bracelets.
Choose to create 8 or 12-strand bracelets from the design booklet for different bracelet looks. Bess of course decided that she didn’t need the design booklet after her first couple of goes and created her own unique bracelets. I like that this toy allows children to use their imagination in this way.
Where can I get one?
Cool maker Kumikreator is available from all good toy shops and is priced at £29.99. Considering that you can make up to 10 bracelets and the refill packs (also 10 bracelets each) are £9.99 I think it’s pretty good value!
Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post. We received this toy in exchange for our honest opinion.
